Manufacturability analysis and design feedback system developed using semantic framework

Abstract

Early manufacturability feedback is critical for reducing product cost and lead-time. This paper describes a new architecture and platform for authoring and applying manufacturability rules for design. The key step is to define a domain-specific ontology by creating a higher-level semantic language that describes design and manufacturing concepts relevant to specific manufacturing processes. This language has two primary uses; express design in the context of manufacturing and relate manufacturing constraints on design as declarative rules. OWL and Jena (a reasoning engine) are used in the background to reason about specific designs and provide manufacturability feedback in a client-server model. The use of Semantic Web technology makes it easier to augment manufacturability feedback with a query system for the designer that utilizes the same rule knowledge base to answer what-if scenarios. This is implemented using SPARQL and using the CAD design context and so enhances the user experience. This novel approach makes it easier for the domain experts to write or verify rules and the designers to validate concepts before changing the CAD model. This helps in maintaining the independence between the CAD platform and core enterprise knowledge. A pilot study in the sheet metal domain is implemented to demonstrate the steps necessary for complete early manufacturability analysis software and highlights the benefits of this approach.